Chaos in the coop

[Gary palmer]

Something very strange happened today in the coop. My birds are free range. They lay 8 to 10 eggs a day. Tonight when I got home, there were only three eggs and two eggs that were broken/ate. Also somehow a pile of oyster shell was taken from the feeder on one side of the coop and piled up in one nesting box. Any theories?

 

[Gary palmer]

I have to say, this is very upsetting. I invested a lot into this flock. Time, money, agravation. Those are my eggs. After you add up everything, these eggs are like 80$ per egg. I'm going to have to get medieval on these rats.

 

[aart]

If it only happened once....could be a fluke.
Game cam would confirm what the problem is before you go nuts fighting something that may r may not be there.
Very odd that oyster shell was piled in nests....sure someone's not pranking you?

 

[mctkp]

Ghosts?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We use poison in a bait box, others have had success with traps. If you have chickens you will generally end up with rodents that need on going maintenance to control.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It is definitely much cheaper to buy free range organic eggs in the store than to make your own. Happy hunting.

 

[Teila]

Would moving the coop make any difference?

Duplicate post? I responded above

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do rats do this during the day or just when it's dark?

Rats are more active at night, but will definitely come out during the day. Moving the coop won't help much as they will find you again. They are attracted to the food and water as well as the warmth and safety.

 

[Teila]

Do rats do this during the day or just when it's dark?

They are more active at night but if you have a few and they are hungry, they can be active and seen during the day also.

Edited to add: OHLD beat me to it!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

They are more active at night but if you have a few and they are hungry, they can be active and seen during the day also.

Edited to add: OHLD beat me to it!

Rats are like hens, sort of. There are more than one species of rats, but there are numerous strains of hens. I'll leave you to figure it out yourself but if you're curious start looking at Brown and at Norway rats.